In various newspaper clippings this week we have been described as “experts”. This is flattering, because neither of us have done more than played a bit of parks football, and watched a few matches over the years. Mark Lawrenson and Paul Merson, on the other hand, have been there and done it. They are the experts – and they have a track record with predictions, too. With just a few hours left before the season begins, both experts have revealed their opening weekend predictions – here are Lawro’s, and here are Merson’s (with odds here). Here they are, relative to our forecasts:

Model Lawro Merson
Man Utd Leicester 2-0 1-0 2-0
Bournemouth Cardiff 1-0 1-1 2-0
Fulham C Palace 0-1 2-1 1-1
Huddersfield Chelsea 0-2 0-2 0-2
Newcastle Tottenham 0-1 1-1 0-0
Watford Brighton 2-0 1-0 1-1
Wolves Everton 1-1 2-1 1-1
Arsenal Man City 0-2 0-2 1-3
Liverpool West Ham 4-0 2-0 2-0
Southampton Burnley 1-0 2-1 2-1

Agreement is highlighted by scores that are bolded and italicised. The strongest agreement is on Chelsea’s apparent win at Huddersfield, and in total we have two scores in common with Lawro (Huddersfield 0-2 Chelsea and Arsenal 0-2 Man City), and three with Merson (Man Utd 2-0 Leicester, Huddersfield 0-2 Chelsea and Wolves 1-1 Everton).
Merson and Lawro agree with each other on Liverpool 2-0 West Ham, and Southampton 2-1 Burnley, in addition to Chelsea at Huddersfield.